Comer: Kentucky hemp to be planted in May

Kentucky’s first industrial hemp crop in decades will start going into the ground next month now that the pipeline for shipping seeds into the state is opening up to allow the experimental plantings, state Agriculture Commissioner James Comer said Tuesday.

Comer said he expects the first batches of hemp seeds to arrive soon at the state Agriculture Department at Frankfort.

“We’re rapidly approaching a crucial time for the seeds to be put in the ground,” he said.

So far, eight pilot projects are planned statewide as part of a small-scale reintroduction to gauge the crop’s potential in the marketplace and as a moneymaker for farmers. The first planting is scheduled May 16 in Rockcastle County, said Holly Harris VonLuehrte, Comer’s chief of staff.

“Hopefully we can get enough seeds to have credible research data gathered by this fall,” Comer said. “And next year, hopefully we’ll have enough seeds to have several processors in the state and several farmers under contract growing it.”

Hemp production was banned decades ago when the federal government classified the crop as a controlled substance related to marijuana. Hemp and marijuana are the same species, Cannabis sativa. But hemp has a negligible amount of THC, the psychoactive compound that gives marijuana users a high.

The crop’s comeback gained a foothold with passage of the new federal farm bill. It allows state agriculture departments to designate hemp pilot projects for research in states that already allow the growing of hemp.

Kentucky lawmakers passed legislation last year that allowed hemp to be reintroduced, if the federal government allowed its production.

Once the farm bill allowed the experimental plantings, the next challenge was getting hemp seed.

Comer said Tuesday his staff has “gone through every level of federal bureaucracy you can go through to get those seeds in.”

The initial seeds are coming from Canada and Italy, Comer said.

State agriculture officials have helped match farmers with researchers for the pilot hemp projects. Some hemp grown will be sold for commercial uses after the fall harvest to help determine the crop’s marketability, VonLuehrte said. Some hemp will be grown purely for research, she said.

One pilot project in Fayette County will focus on hemp’s potential in medicine, she said.

Hemp many uses, including rope, clothing and mulch from the fiber; hemp milk and cooking oil from the seeds, and soap and lotions.